The Cisco® MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch is a high-performance, flexible, cost-effective platform with the industry's highest port density and lowest power consumption available in a compact one rack-unit (1RU) chassis form factor. It provides 48 line-rate 8-Gbps ports for storage networking deployments in small, medium-sized, and large enterprise environments. The Cisco MDS 9148, based on a purpose-built "switch-on-a-chip" application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), offers outstanding value by providing high-availability, security, and ease of use at a cost-effective price. With the flexibility to expand from 16 to 48 ports in 8-port increments, the Cisco MDS 9148 offers the densities required to scale from an entry-level departmental switch to top-of-the-rack switch to edge switch connectivity into enterprise core SANs. The Cisco MDS 9148 delivers a nonblocking architecture, with all 48 1/2/4/8-Gbps ports operating at line rate concurrently.
The Cisco MDS 9148 supports Zero-Touch installation as well as the Cisco Device Manager Quick Configuration Wizard, which allow it to be deployed quickly and easily in networks of any size. Powered by Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software, it includes advanced storage networking features and functions and is compatible with Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Directors and Cisco MDS 9200 and other 9100 Series Multilayer Fabric Switches, providing transparent, end-to-end service delivery in core-edge deployments.

- High-performance with exceptional flexibility: The Cisco MDS 9148 offers up to 48 autosensing Fibre Channel ports capable of speeds of 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gbps in a compact 1RU form-factor chassis with 8 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for each port and an aggregate platform bandwidth of 768 Gbps. The Cisco MDS 9148 comes with three preconfigured models for 16, 32, or 48 ports. The 16- and 32-port models can be upgraded onsite to enable additional ports by adding one or more 8-port Cisco MDS 9148 On-Demand Port Activation licenses.
- Intelligent storage networking services at a cost-effective price: The Cisco MDS 9148, powered by Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software, offers intelligent storage networking capabilities such as virtual SANs (VSANs), link aggregation using PortChannels, quality of service (QoS), and security. These features make it easy to design, deploy, provision, and manage the Cisco MDS 9148 either as a standalone departmental SAN switch or as a top-of-the-rack switch or an edge switch in an enterprise core-edge SAN.
- Simplified scalable deployment of virtual machine-aware SANs: In a virtual machine environment in which many host operating systems or applications are running on a physical host, the Cisco MDS 9148 uses N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) technology to provide independent management for each virtual machine. Furthermore, the Cisco MDS 9148 provides Cisco N-Port Virtualization (NPV) and fabric-port (F-port) trunking and channeling features to enable SANs to be scaled without reaching Fibre Channel domain ID limits. The Cisco FlexAttach feature enables transparent server deployment and movement without SAN reconfiguration.
- High-availability platform for mission-critical deployments: The Cisco MDS 9148 is designed for environments in which downtime is unacceptable. It offers nondisruptive software upgrades, dual redundant hot-swappable power supplies (with integrated fans), dual redundant hot-swappable fan trays, VSANs for fault isolation, PortChannels for Inter-Switch Link (ISL) resiliency, and F-port trunking for resiliency on uplinks from a Cisco MDS 9148 operating in NPV mode.
- Comprehensive security framework: The Cisco MDS 9148 supports as standard role-based access control (RBAC) using RADIUS or TACACS+ authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) functions, VSAN fabric isolation, intelligent packet inspection at the port level, Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP) host-to-switch and switch-to-switch authentication, Secure FTP (SFTP), Secure Shell Version 2 (SSHv2) and Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) implementing Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), control-plane security, logical unit number (LUN) zoning and read-only zones, hardware-enforced zoning, broadcast zones, and management access. Although rarely needed in most switch fabric installations, an extensive set of even more innovative and powerful security features and functions is available with the optional Cisco MDS 9000 Family Enterprise Package License.
- Simplified storage management: The Cisco MDS 9148 supports SAN plug-and-play capabilities, including new Zero-Touch Installation deployment and provisioning, and offers built-in storage network management, with all features available through a command-line interface (CLI) or the Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) for SAN Essentials Edition (formerly Cisco Fabric Manager), a centralized management tool with task-based wizards that simplifies management of a standalone switch or multiple switches and fabrics.
- Sophisticated diagnostics: Industry-leading intelligent diagnostics such as Fibre Channel ping, Fibre Channel traceroute, Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN), Cisco Fabric Analyzer, and an integrated Call Home capability to enhance reliability, facilitate faster problem resolution, and reduce service costs.
- Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO): Common platform architecture and the use of Cisco MDS 9000 NX-OS Software intelligent storage networking services across all Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches reduce ongoing operating expenses by providing a consistent set of provisioning, management, and diagnostic capabilities.